1. Technical Field
The present invention relates to color wheels, and particularly to a color wheel assembly and an assembled color wheel for use in projection technology.
2. Description of Related Art
Color composition in digital light processing (DLP) projectors can be accomplished, for example, by two different methods: single-panel and triple-panel (three-panel). In the single-panel, each projector is equipped with one digital micro-mirror device (DMD); white light from a light source is dispersed into red (R), green (G) and blue (B) light, in sequence; the DMD switches between the R, G and B lights to produce R, G and B images, in sequence; and a color composition of the R, G and B images is formed by viewers due to an afterimage effect. In the triple-panel, three DMDs respectively dedicated to R, G and B lights are employed in one projector; R, G and B images are produced in parallel; and a color composition is accomplished by projecting the R, G and B images at/onto a screen.
Projectors with a single DMD tend to be small in size and low in price. Thus, these projectors are very popular. In these projectors, a color wheel is preferably used as a sequential dispersing device to disperse white light into R, G and B light.
Referring to FIG. 5, a color wheel 99 includes a motor 98, a carrier 97, a color filter unit 96, a vibration damping ring 95, a cover 94, a spring 93, two spacers 92 and a locking member 91. The motor 98 includes a rotating housing 981, a shaft 982 and a lock-receiving portion 983. The rotating shaft 982 is coaxially fixed to the rotating housing 981, along a rotating axis of the rotating housing. The lock-receiving portion 983 is defined in the shaft 982, near a distal end thereof. The carrier 97, the color filter unit 96, the vibration damping ring 95, the cover 94, the spring 93 and the spacers 92 are inserted through the rotating shaft 982, and are arranged in this order from a near-end of the rotating housing 981 to a far-end of the rotating housing 981. The locking member 91 is locked in the lock-receiving portion 983 and thereby compresses the spring 93. The compressed spring 93 applies a constant force that pushes against the assembly of the cover 94, the vibration damping ring 95, the color filter unit 96, and the carrier 97 so as to be firmly fixed on the motor 98. In this configuration the color wheel 99 is a complex design because the motor 98 must be structurally matched with the carrier 97, the color filter unit 96, the spring 93 and the locking member 91. Additionally, the motor 98 needs to undergo multiple operations to assemble the carrier 97, the color filter unit 96, the cover 94, the spring 93 and the locking member 91 thereon in an assembling process. The complicated structure and manufacture processes thereof, and the large number of operations may damage a rotational symmetric property of the motor, and readily result in an eccentric motor. Accordingly, the efficiency of motor may be decreased and noise generated by the working motor may be increased, since the motor will be driven to rotate with eccentric force.
Therefore, it is desirable to provide a color wheel assembly and a color wheel with the same, which can overcome the above-mentioned problems.